Degeneration of Dynamical Degrees in Families of Maps

The dynamical degree of a dominant rational map $f:\mathbb{P}^N\rightarrow\mathbb{P}^N$ is the quantity $\delta(f):=\lim(\text{deg} f^n)^{1/n}$. We study the variation of dynamical degrees in 1-parameter families of maps $f_T$. We make a conjecture and ask two questions concerning, respectively, the set of $t$ such that: (1) $\delta(f_t)\le\delta(f_T)-\epsilon$; (2) $\delta(f_t)<\delta(f_T)$; (3) $\delta(f_t)<\delta(f_T)$ and $\delta(g_t)<\delta(g_T)$ for "independent" families of maps. We give a sufficient condition for our conjecture to hold and prove that it is true for monomial maps. We describe non-trivial families of maps for which our questions have affirmative and negative answers.Comment: 18 pages. This is an expanded version of the article publishd in Acta Arithmetica. It contains a corrected statement and full proof of Propostion 11(c

Rise of the Machines: Justice Information Systems and the Question of Public Access to Court Records over the Internet

Professor Silverman discusses the machines that have been taking up positions in the court houses for more than a quarter of a century. These machines are becoming an integrated network integral to the workings of the court. With the assistance of the machines, the myriad and diverse members of the justice and public safety communities together with the public will evolve into a single complex whole that could dedicate itself to creating a more humane and just society comprised of better informed individuals to whom they are genuinely accountable. There are those who fear the machines, afraid that personal privacy is doomed with public access to court records. Professor Silverman explains how this fear is unwarranted. In the first part of the article he introduces the reader to this technology (Part II) and its likely role in evolving justice information systems (Parts I and III). In the second half of the article, Professor Silverman explores the debate over whether the public should be permitted access to court records over the Internet. After explaining the origins, history, and principal sides of this debate (Part IV), he argues, first, that when used properly, XML permits the public to have access to court records over the Internet while promoting public safety and protecting personal security (Part V) and, second, that the presence of discrediting and embarrassing facts in a case file does not justify limiting public access to court records over the Internet while permitting unlimited public access at the courthouse (Part VI)

Rise of the Machines: Justice Information Systems and the Question of Public Access to Court Records over the Internet

Professor Silverman discusses the machines that have been taking up positions in the court houses for more than a quarter of a century. These machines are becoming an integrated network integral to the workings of the court. With the assistance of the machines, the myriad and diverse members of the justice and public safety communities together with the public will evolve into a single complex whole that could dedicate itself to creating a more humane and just society comprised of better informed individuals to whom they are genuinely accountable. There are those who fear the machines, afraid that personal privacy is doomed with public access to court records. Professor Silverman explains how this fear is unwarranted. In the first part of the article he introduces the reader to this technology (Part II) and its likely role in evolving justice information systems (Parts I and III). In the second half of the article, Professor Silverman explores the debate over whether the public should be permitted access to court records over the Internet. After explaining the origins, history, and principal sides of this debate (Part IV), he argues, first, that when used properly, XML permits the public to have access to court records over the Internet while promoting public safety and protecting personal security (Part V) and, second, that the presence of discrediting and embarrassing facts in a case file does not justify limiting public access to court records over the Internet while permitting unlimited public access at the courthouse (Part VI)

Dualistic Legal Phenomena and the Limitations of Positivism

Often, in a case of first instance, a judge will reach a decision by an appeal to legal principles. For example, in the 1889 case of Riggs v. Palmer a New York court had to decide whether a grandson who had murdered his grandfather could inherit under the will in which his grandfather had named him an heir. The statutes and rules of testamentary law did not prohibit the inheritance. The court, however, invoked the legal principle that no one should be permitted to profit by his own wrong and denied the claim to inheritance. The use of such principles by courts raises an important question for legal theory: Do these principles exist within or without the legal system? This note argues that an adequate conception of a legal system must include principles capable of justifying rules and acts. Part I describes two versions of positivist legal theory-one that contains only rules and another that includes principles derived from rules-and demonstrates that Professor Dworkin, while claiming to refute positivism, has actually advanced a theory consistent with the latter version. Part II argues that both versions of positivism are inadequate because they fail to describe and explain adequately some systemic operations, including legal fictions, and some legal phenomena, including adverse possession. Part III outlines a legal theory in which rules and nonderivative principles are equally basic and illustrates how such a theory is capable of describing and explaining complex legal phenomena

Imperatives, Normativity, and the Law

In this article Professor Silverman sets out to resolve the problem of legal normativity. Professor Silverman argues that legal scholars have been prevented from transcending the limited conception of law engendered by a key dogma of nineteenth century jurisprudence: the dogma that laws are a species of commands, orders, or imperatives. As a result, even as we enter the twenty-first century, legal scholars have yet to articulate a legal architectonic that properly situates the normative commitments of a society within a post-modern legal system. An adequate theory of law must offer an account of the normativity of law: an account of how the law guides and directs human behavior

Imperatives, Normativity, and the Law

In this article Professor Silverman sets out to resolve the problem of legal normativity. Professor Silverman argues that legal scholars have been prevented from transcending the limited conception of law engendered by a key dogma of nineteenth century jurisprudence: the dogma that laws are a species of commands, orders, or imperatives. As a result, even as we enter the twenty-first century, legal scholars have yet to articulate a legal architectonic that properly situates the normative commitments of a society within a post-modern legal system. An adequate theory of law must offer an account of the normativity of law: an account of how the law guides and directs human behavior

ADA1, a novel component of the ADA/GCN5 complex, has broader effects than GCN5, ADA2, or ADA3

9 pages, 5 figures, 3 tables.-- PMID: 9154821 [PubMed].-- PMCID: PMC232175.The ADA genes encode factors which are proposed to function as transcriptional coactivators. Here we describe the cloning, sequencing, and initial characterization of a novel ADA gene, ADA1. Similar to the previously isolated ada mutants, ada1 mutants display decreases in transcription from various reporters. Furthermore, ADA1 interacts with the other ADAs in the ADA/GCN5 complex as demonstrated by partial purification of the complex and immunoprecipitation experiments. We estimate that the complex has a molecular mass of approximately 2 MDa. Previously, it had been demonstrated that ada5 mutants displayed more severe phenotypic defects than the other ada mutants (G. A. Marcus, J. Horiuchi, N. Silverman, and L. Guarente, Mol. Cell. Biol. 16:3197-3205, 1996; S. M. Roberts and F. Winston, Mol. Cell. Biol. 16:3206-3213, 1996). ada1 mutants display defects similar to those of ada5 mutants and different from those of the other mutants with respect to promoters affected, inositol auxotrophy, and Spt- phenotypes. Thus, the ADAs can be separated into two classes, suggesting that the ADA/GCN5 complex may have two separate functions. We present a speculative model on the possible roles of the ADA/GCN5 complex.We thank A. Koleske, D. Chao, C. Wilson, C. Hengartner, and R. Young for sharing antibodies and for technical assistance. We also thank A. Greenleaf and C. Peterson for sharing antisera and K. Kaplan for assistance with the Sprint BIOCAD apparatus. We are grateful to S. Roberts and F. Winston for strains, T. D. Fox and D. Allis for sharing unpublished results, and D. McNabb for critical comments on the manuscript. G.M. thanks C. Armstrong and S. Treadway for help with the GCN5 antibody. J.H. was an HHMI predoctoral fellow. This work was supported by grant GM50207 from NIH to L.G.Peer reviewe

Cytoplasmic Poly(A) Binding Protein-1 Binds to Genomically Encoded Sequences Within Mammalian mRNAs

The functions of the major mammalian cytoplasmic poly(A) binding protein, PABPC1, have been characterized predominantly in the context of its binding to the 3′ poly(A) tails of mRNAs. These interactions play important roles in post-transcriptional gene regulation by enhancing translation and mRNA stability. Here, we performed transcriptome-wide CLIP-seq analysis to identify additional PABPC1 binding sites within genomically encoded mRNA sequences that may impact on gene regulation. From this analysis, we found that PABPC1 binds directly to the canonical polyadenylation signal in thousands of mRNAs in the mouse transcriptome. PABPC1 binding also maps to translation initiation and termination sites bracketing open reading frames, exemplified most dramatically in replication-dependent histone mRNAs. Additionally, a more restricted subset of PABPC1 interaction sites comprised A-rich sequences within the 5′ UTRs of mRNAs, including Pabpc1 mRNA itself. Functional analyses revealed that these PABPC1 interactions in the 5′ UTR mediate both auto- and trans-regulatory translational control. In total, these findings reveal a repertoire of PABPC1 binding that is substantially broader than previously recognized with a corresponding potential to impact and coordinate post-transcriptional controls critical to a broad array of cellular functions